Our-Core / Week 5

                          

 

 

Our Core: Grace and Truth
    May 29, 2022  

        Exodus 34:6; John 1:14, 17 

• Introduction:
  1. We are doing a series we are calling “our core” as we are seeking to define just who MVC is at our core.   
     1. I love today’s value because it is a passion of mine, something I want to become more of and something I want MVC to become more of because it is at the core of who God is!  
     2. The more MVC reflects this core, the more glory God gets!  
  2. The value today is this:  grace and truth
     1. Put up whole value
     2. Not just grace and not just truth but both grace and truth perfectly blended together as a seamless one. This is the need that each one of us has, as it is the way that God meets us and the way we need to minister to others in our culture. 

• Let’s turn to Exodus 34 and explain why I say that grace and truth are at the core of God Himself, one of His key core values if you will!

1. Scripture on grace and truth
   1. Exodus 34
      1. Context – Moses prayed, “God show me your glory.”
         1. Glory is the very essence or core of who God is.    
         2. Glory is best remembered by this acronym: glory = God - God on display and God is most glorified when we display His heart and character to others in our attitudes, actions and words!
      2. God did show Moses His glory by passing His very essence and core in front of him.  Read v5-7.
         • . And in v6, we see both grace and truth.

1. He loaded on the grace by using other synonyms of compassionate, lovingkindness and forgiveness
2. But He balances that out with truth and holding those guilty of sin accountable and punishing them.

1. Now turn to John 1
   1. Read v14 – note we see again God’s glory and this time as displayed in Jesus – full of grace and truth 
   2. Read v17 – we see that grace and truth was realized in Jesus!
      • . That means that grace and truth became a reality that was experienced and was seen in Jesus!
   3. From Exodus 34 and John 1 we see that grace and truth is right at the core of who God is, His very essence, His very glory. If nothing else that makes this value very very important to us!
2. Other passages
   1. Loving-kindness is a synonym for grace and is used very often in the Old Testament. 
      • . It is the Hebrew word – hesed that is a word that is used regarding those with whom God is in covenant relationship!

1. It speaks of the deep down desire in God to actively pursue and bless those with whom He is in relationship.  
2. It is both an attitude and an action where God bows himself down to meet the needs of those who are His own.

2. Psalm 25:10 – all of God’s paths (= his repeated ways) are full of lovingkindness and truth 
3. Psalm 86:15– these are abundant in God.
4. Psalm 85:10 – these two meet and kiss each other – they are not opposite or mutually exclusive but they are unified as one!
5. Proverbs 3:3-4 – when we are full of these two we will find both favor and a good reputation before both God and man!

1. One thing this brief study does for us is blow away the concept that the Old Testament God was a God of law and judgment and the New Testament God is a God of grace and mercy.   
   1. We learn from this that God at His core as revealed in His glory, all His paths are, and Jesus modeled for us that He is, has been and always will be a God of grace and truth.
   2. God is not one way in the Old Testament and another way in the New Testament.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever!

• It truly is what we all need, the way God meets us and the way we need to minister to others.  Let’s look at some 
• Implications  
  1. The spectrum of churches – illustrate with the stage
     1. Center – God’s grace and truth as displayed in Jesus
     2. Far right  
        1. Truth over grace
        2. So committed to truth that anyone who is off just a slight degree on the truth they will hate them for Jesus sake
        3. Anyone who does not say everything about Scripture the way they say it, interpret it the way they interpret it, or apply it the way they apply it is someone who should be held in suspicion or not even trusted.
     3. Far left  
        • . Grace over truth.  so committed to grace that everyone is OK, let’s not burden them or guilt them with sin, just let them know that God loves and accepts everybody

1. They question God, the Bible, the exclusivity of Christianity and biblical morals.  The parts they do not resonate with they either reject or reinterpret.
2. So rather than interpreting the culture or science through the lens of the Bible, they interpret the Bible through the lens of the culture and science!

1. MVC is shooting for the middle of the spectrum.  Are we perfectly there? – No, but that is where we want to and are seeking to be. 
   1. Share chart that the elders discussed at our last meeting
   2. Love what Erwin Lutzer said about all of this – “the most loving thing we can do for someone is to tell them the truth in love”.  
2. Attitudes and tones – let me tell you a few we talked about at the board meeting
   1. Sometimes the older generation has a tendency to look down on the younger generations with an attitude that “someday they will get it” rather than seeing them as what the world needs today
   2. To be a multi-generational church that has an emphasis on the next generation it will require of both generations both humility and teachability versus suspicion and judgmentalism.    
   3. We need to learn to appreciate the value that each generation brings to the table.
   4. We need to be firm and inflexible when it comes to the anchor – grace and truth but when it comes to the way we talk about and express these things we need to be flexible and understanding 
3. Finally – we need to learn fluency with each other.  
   1. That means capable of doing something with ease and grace.
      • . Here we are talking about fluency in conversations with a generation of which you are not a part!

1. The best way to become fluent in a new language is not in the classroom or through a book but by living among the people of that language and learning to communicate through everyday life with them.  

2. I would encourage you to take the sheet you received today, share it, discuss it with a few people of a different generation than yourself, and see if we can better understand and appreciate one another!